[condor]

From what I have been told by some one who works with these cars:

The cars are good, and will last with proper maintenance - read as: servicing at the A.S.S.

Where the cars fall short seems to be in the wear & Tear parts department, like brakes. Cost cutting has been done with parts from china.

(Shared as received) .

[openroad357]

Wow! My first post blew up and made it to Hot Threads.

Will go through all the messages and try to respond wherever I can.

Just wanted to say that I really appreciate all the responses from the community members who pitched in with advice, ownership experience and anecdotes.

[sleepysentinel]

I’ve owned a Polo GT TSI since 2019. 45K kms and counting. No issues other than three blown ABS sensors. All were changed under warranty during annual service or when I dropped the car for body work. Not once has it broken down, nor have I ever had to make an unplanned visit to a workshop in almost 6 years of ownership.

[sachin_cs]

Completed 6 years with my Rapid TDi DSG DQ200 and the odo stands at 1,15,000kms now. So far, no issues with the reliability, it has been fairly reliable compared to other cars at home (Tata, Renault, Maruti). I still have that fear, so just to be on the safer side, I have extended my warranty for the 7th year as well for 17k only.

Since Rapid is discontinued, at times there is down time for parts like some sensors, parts like fuel lid etc, which take around 2-3 weeks to arrive, other than that, no major issue to state. It’s the service centre experience which may be a hit or miss, here in my city, the staff keeps changing very frequently and whenever you walk into the service centre, there’s new faces to deal with, sometimes the experience is good & sometimes it’s not so good.

[bijims]

Considering how notorious the DQ200 has been I would take the maximum possible extended warranty too, more so since the car has crossed 1,00,000 km and the chances of issues cropping up are higher. A handful of my friends have the Vento 1.5 TDI DSG, Ameo 1.5 TDI DSG and Rapid 1.5 TDI DSG, while they are a hoot to drive and are great examples of German engineering, they always have a fear of issues cropping up as one of them has had to get his DSG replaced under warranty, but since then it has been good so far.

While a couple of my friends have the newer Skoda 2.0 cars with the 1.5 TSI DSG have had no issues whatsoever in their 3+ years of ownership and are quite satisfied with the cars, be it performance, features, price, fuel efficiency etc. They do have a small complaint that their cars aren't quite as well built as the earlier Ventos and Rapids though, and there seems to be quite a bit of cost cutting.

[Torque123]

After owning a driver’s car like the Ford Fiesta 1.6 for 15 years with 1.25 lakh kms on the odo, I got the Slavia. It’s been 26 months since I have owned the Slavia 1.5 TSI DSG & have clocked 20k kms on the odo. It’s been an absolute bliss and a trouble free ownership experience till now. No issues faced with the service center till now. Yes, you don’t get the unnecessary pampering from the SC but the job gets done which is more important. No EPC, low engine oil warning during the first 15k kms, ABS errors, brake pads wearing off early etc faced till now. My daily drive is a Honda City CVT and I wait for the weekend to drive the Slavia. That says a lot. The AC performance in the City is surely better.

Get the 1.5 TSI Slavia/Virtus/Taigun/Kushaq if you can extend the budget. It’s a monster & a big positive differentiator. No other auto gearbox can even come close to a DSG. It’s in a different league. Yes, there are questions on the reliability of the DQ200 based on its past performance. VW says it’s been addressed now. Only time will tell as I own one now than depend on hear says. Have got the extended warranty and service pack.

[sinharishi]

I had Polo with 1.0 AT for 3 years/52K KMs and currently own Slavia with 1.5 TSI MT which has clocked about 43K KMs in less than 2 years.

Polo ownership was fuss-free, I met with a terrible accident near Ajmer on way to Mumbai when I was rear ended by a Tata Safari at high speed. Except for VW RSA, the way they handled the case - repairs, insurance claim, updates and delivery was exceptional. My car was at Jaipur VW ASC for 3 months and it was put back in shape, all those horror stories about VW A.S.S were put to rest. The car had zilch issues post repair. The service experience at VW Noida was again superb - quick, reasonable and transparent!

We replaced our S-cross with Salvia, the S-Cross had clocked close to 200K KMs in under 6-years, I am mentioning this as we moved away from a Maruti-VW garage to all VAG garage in 2023. Slavia ownership started on a sour note, my window switches gave up in less than 4K KMs, I was attending a wedding in Agra and the driver's side window just refused to close. I took the car to Skoda A.S.S in Agra and had to manually close the window by removing the door trim. Got the car back to Delhi and replaced the switch (not under warranty). I also had complained during first service about poor AC performance, to which they just checked the gas and said everything is normal. No complaints on routine service experience. The 1.5 TSI is a gem of an engine, it is fast and yet efficient at the same time. We have done quite a few cross country trips between Delhi and Mumbai, longest being Delhi-Wayanad-Delhi.

To point out, the issue that I faced with window switches was a batch issue as it was not so common. So overall ownership has been good and more than satisfactory. My recommendation is to go for 1.0 TSI, its not a slouch by any means.

All the best!

[sedanlover2021]

My taigun gt+ 1.5 has been with us without any fuss for 1.5 years. Hoot to drive. Just get the extended warranty. Go for it.

[openroad357]

Originally Posted by BlueGod

Hi

I had virtus 1.5 for around 18 months and covered 16000 kms. Ride was top notch. But when it came to service and spare parts availability it was worst. Car was in the service centre for three weeks as aircon was not working. With no loaner car I decided to take the car without AC. Got the spare parts after 3 more weeks. Had to drive the car with windows down.

In another instance driver side window up/down button stopped working. Had to live with this issue for 3 more weeks until spare parts came. It is mostly ok but when cops stop for checking, you need to open the door to provide any explanation or info. Some cops were startled as they are always used to people rolling down the windows.

The window up/down button issue seems to be a recurring theme. The mental image of cops getting startled when you opened the door during checks is funny.

[SmartCat]

I think 15% of teambhp-ians experiencing poor reliability (compared to Japs/Koreans) is statistically significant.



However, sample size of the survey is still small (just 77 votes polled)

[KharbandaKartik]

I have a 2021 Kushaq 1.0, which has done 70,000+ kms, had the EPC error once in the beginning right after the purchase, after that I have done several trips and it has served me really well.

Our 2024 Kodiaq is close to 20,000 kms and is running well and I am having a lot of fun with the car.

[yedukrishnan199]

We have a 2013 Vento 1.6 TDI DSG in the family, but it hasn't been the best, The AC ain't good, the DSG had to be replaced within warranty, but it's a wonderful car to drive and after the gearbox replacement, we have been super careful with it and it's been mostly going on well apart from the AC which can't cool down the cabin quick enough.

[peugeot96]

My Slavia active has been more reliable than the Ciaz it replaced. I faced various electrical, alignment and brake related issues in my Ciaz. I still loved that car despite these gremlins. The Slavia has had fewer non scheduled visits to the workshop. Only a well designed statistical model and associated survey with large sample size will give any useful information about the reliability of these products. Any opinion presented here including mine is nothing more than an old wives tale similar to built(sic) quality concerns over Maruti. It is the same as judging reliability by the number of times you see a particular car being towed to the workshop. As an owner of a 2.0 product I can only give my opinion which is that they are great.

[volkchan1]

I have owned a Polo GT TSI for over 8 years and never had a serious problem. I would urge you to visit your local VAG service station and understand how things work. I recently had a discussion with a VW service personnel. According to him, many parts for these cars, especially the higher-end CBU cars, are typically imported. It takes some time to get parts so be prepared to wait (7-10 days).

Also every authorised service center (in VW atleast) has a hierarchy where there is an apex person named "master mechanical", who specializes in solving more complex issues. I would suggest you pay visit to your local service center and talk to that person about the car you have in mind. Do a little "Scuttlebutt" before buying a Car

[openroad357]

Originally Posted by peugeot96

My Slavia active has been more reliable than the Ciaz it replaced. I faced various electrical, alignment and brake related issues in my Ciaz. I still loved that car despite these gremlins. The Slavia has had fewer non scheduled visits to the workshop. Only a well designed statistical model and associated survey with large sample size will give any useful information about the reliability of these products. Any opinion presented here including mine is nothing more than an old wives tale similar to built(sic) quality concerns over Maruti. It is the same as judging reliability by the number of times you see a particular car being towed to the workshop. As an owner of a 2.0 product I can only give my opinion which is that they are great.

Agree that the opinions presented here may not provide statistically significant information. Nothing short of a detailed assessment delving into the actual cause and resolution of any issues over time and comparison of similar data across brands will provide this information.

Since getting that information is a pipe dream, I think we will have to make do with owner experiences and anecdotes. If nothing, it will provide some peace of mind or confidence in our decision to purchase these cars.

Your experience of Slavia being more reliable than Ciaz is one such piece of information.